Coil winding device for helical filament sliding clasp fasteners



Sept. 11, 1962 H. WILCKEN 3,052,922

COIL WINDING DEVICE FOR HELICAL FILAMENT SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed May 24, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l I IL i I i I i v I J 9 /0 I v m fix Va I I J y f? I I l I 4, 721 I; /9 T ,9 m X5 ,6? /5 F I /5 INVENVOP:

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Sept. 11, 1962 H. WILCKEN 3,052,922

COIL WINDING DEVICE FOR HELICAL FILAMENT SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed May 24, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Ofifice 3,052,922 Patented Sept. 11, 1962 3,052,922 COIL WlNDlNG DEVICE FOR IHZLICAL FILA- MENT SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Hugo Wilcken, Curau, Kreis Eutin, Holstein, Germany, assignor to Walter Erich Heilmann, Essen-Bredeney, Germany Filed May 24, 1960, Ser. No. 31,345 Claims priority, application Germany May 25, 1959 4 Qlaims. (CI. 18-19) The present invention relates to a coil-winding device for winding helices of any desired profile, for helical-filament sliding clasp fastener chains, made of a filament of plastic material. The device includes a rotating thread guide which also rotates a thread feed drum. The thread guide is provided on one side facing a stationary winding mandrel with rotatable stamping tools for forming coupling elements of the helices.

It has been proposed previously to allow a plastic thread made of a polyamide, and having a round cross-section to run oil a supply drum and pass through stamping tools before winding is effected, in order to make any desired suitable coupling elements. The stamping tools are arranged on a carrier of the supply drum, or the thread guide. In such devices it is diflicult to adjust the stamping tools and to drive them so that the coupling elements on the winding mandrel or on a filler core for the helix are always situated at the same peripheral position of the mandrel, more particularly on the oval apex in the case when the mandrel has an oval or flattened profile, and thereby on the corresponding turn of the helix. Other dificulties are entailed in driving the stamping tools.

The present invention has for an object to avoid special drives for the stamping tools for manufacturing the coupling elements and to ensure that the coupling elements of the individual turns of the plastic helix, serving for manufacturing sliding clasp fastener chains, are permanently located at the same positions on the turns of the helix.

According to the invention the device has co-acting stamping tools between which the plastic filament passes. One of the tools is directly actuated or is actuated, by means of levers, push rods or the like by stationary step cam toward the other tool for stamping the coupling elements. In this way a coupling element is stamped on the plastic filament which passes between the tools with each rotation of the thread guide in the making of each helical turn. Each coupling element is disposed, regardless of the diameter of the winding mandrel, permanently on the same peripheral position of each of the turns. The pheriphery of the winding mandrel determines the feed length of the filament with each rotation of the thread guide. The stamping tools are actuated with each rotation only once for forming each coupling element. Formation of the coupling elements in the same position on the periphery of each helical turn is thereby ensured in a very simple manner. It is possible by displacing the step cam to relocate the position of the coupling elements on the peripheries of the turns in a manner which will be explained. The coupling elements themselves, which consist of widenings of the filament situated on the inner side of each turn, may have any desired profile.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one embodiment of a coil-winding device for sliding clasp fastener chains, together with an arrangement for stamping the coupling elements, and in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a longitudinal section through the device with the stamping tools shown schematically.

FIGURE 2 shows a front view of the stamping tools taken along the line IIlI of FIGURE 1.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the coil-winding device is disposed in a machine frame 1 and includes a winding mandrel 2 whose shape is adapted to the shape of the helix to be manufactured. The winding mandrel may be provided with a longitudinally extending recess through which is passed a filler core 3 for the helix. The mandrel is mounted in a hollow cylindrical holder 4 for supplying the filler core 3. The free end of the mandrel holder 4 is provided with a winding cone 5 the object of which will be explained later. A thread supply drum 6 is seated on the mandrel holder so that it may rotate freely, and on said thread supply drum is wound a plastic filament made of a polyamide or the like having a round or any other desired cross-section. The drum may be suitably mounted to facilitate its subsequent removal. A thread guide cooperates with this supply drum 6. The thread guide includes two discs 7a and 7b which are rigidly joined together by means of rigid bridges 8. The thread guide is rotated by means of a gear wheel 9 driven from a gear wheel 10 on a driven shaft 11. Thread 12 wound on the supply drum 6 is reeled off against the direction of winding of the helix and runs through thread eyelets 13 and 14 of the thread guide 7 and then between stamping tools 15 which are secured on the front side of the thread guiding disc 7a and are thereby rotated therewith. After passing between the stamping tools 15, consisting of members 15a, 15b, the thread, sliding oil? the cone 5 of the mandrel holder, is wound about the mandrel 2 whereby the individual windings of the wound filament are displaced forward by themselves owing to the winding action. The wound thread slides off the mandrel and runs through a conveying device 16 in which the correct Winding pitch of the wound helix is effected and in which they are heated for stabilising the correctly wound turns.

" Subsequently the manufactured helices, which may if desired be provided with a filler core 3 are joined to a carrier stringer tape for making a sliding clasp fastener chain.

In accordance with the invention, a radially projecting cam 18 is secured to a stationary frame wall 17, which may also be the bearing wall for the thread guide. The cam cooperates with one movable member of the stamping tools 15 so that by running up one member on this cam the member is pressed against the other member. Thus, with each rotation of the stamping tools 15, one coupling element is stamped on a turn of plastic filament 12. The cam 18 is located such that when winding each turn the coupling element is disposed at the correct peripheral position of the helix. Where the shape of the helix is oval, this coupling element should be located Where the major axis cuts the periphery, and where the shape of the helix is flattened, the coupling element should be located centrally of one of the narrow sides of the flattened shape. In order to obtain this correct position of the coupling elements, the step cam 18 can be displaced circumferentially about the axis of the winding mandrel with respect to the periphery of the winding mandrel 2. For this purpose the cam 18 may be disposed in an annular-slot formed in the stationary wall 17, the slot being disposed coaxially relatively to the uis of the winding mandrel, and the cam being secured at the desired position.

The stamping tools, as shown in FIGURE 2 include one member 15a fixed on disc 7a and a second movable member 15b. The member 15b is spring-loaded outwardly away from the member 15a and its free external end is disposed loosely against one arm 20a of a double lever whose other arm 29b is disposed against an arm 21a of a second double lever. The other arm 21]) of the second double lever has a roller 22 which rolls against the internal periphery of the ring 19. The cam 18 projects inwardly beyond the internal periphery of the ring 19. The double lever 21a, 21b is held by a spring 23 against an adjusting screw 24 of the double lever 20a, 20b and this spring ensures also that roller 22 on the lever arm 21b rolls on the internal periphery of the ring 19. As soon as the roller 22 abuts the 'cam 18, the levers 29a, 20b and 21a, 211) are pivoted. The movable member 151) is. pressed toward the fixed member 15a. The filament passing between the two tool members is then stamped with a coupling element. Advantageously, the movable member 15b and the fixed member 15a are located as near as possible to the winding mandrel 2. In any event, unnecessary stretching of the filament between the winding mandrel and the stamping tools is to be avoided.

In operation of the device, a roll of plastic thread sup ported on drum 6 will have its free end threaded in the path indicated by dotted line 12 in FIG. 1. The thread will pass through eyelet 13 then down through an obliquely formed hole in plate 7:: to upper eyelet 14. From the upper eyelet 14 the thread passes as shown by the lower portion of dotted line 12 to lower eyelet 14 and then radially inwardly to cone of mandrel 2. Initially the thread will be manually threaded in the path 12 and will be manually wound on the mandrel to form the first few turns of a coil. These first few coil turns will be received in the cylindrical coil receiver 16 axially of the mandrel. The coil receiver has heating means (not shown) for setting the plastic coil.

It will be apparent that as the thread guide assembly 7 rotates, the diameter of the roll of thread on the central cylindrical shaft of the drum 6 will decrease in diameter as the thread is drawn off. It is therefore necessary that the drum be mounted for free rotation to permit an equal length of thread to pass ofi? the drum during each rotation of assembly 7.

As the assembly 7, rotates, the roller 22 rolls along the inside of ring 19 until the step cam 18 is encountered. Roller 22 is rotatably carried at the outer end of lever 21a, 21b. When roller 22 encounters cam 18 it pivots lever 21a, 21b and causes lever end 21b to move lever end 20!) radially outward while lever end 2011 moves radially inward. Lever end 20a moves the movable stamping tool member b axially while compressing the spring encircling the tool member 15b until the tool member contacts the portion of plastic thread passing between the tool members 15, 15b. Then the tool members 15a, 15b co-act to form an impression on the thread between the tool members. As roller 22 passes cam 18, the spring on tool member 155 expands, levers pivot oppositely and the tool member 15b retracts axially. Since the movable tool 15b, levers a, 20b and 21a, 2112 are actuated only once during each rotation of the thread guide assembly 7 when the roller 22 rides over the cam 18 fixed in circumferential position on ring 17, the successive impressions on the thread occur at predetermined spaced intervals determined by the diameter of the mandrel 2. The roller 22, levers 20a, 20b and 21a, 21b constitute a cam follower assembly actuatable once during each revolution of the thread guide assembly and insure that the impressions on the several turns of the coil will all be aligned axially of the coil, I

I claim:

1. A coil winding and shaping device for plastic thread, comprising a stationary support, a stationary mandrel carried by said support, a drum for carrying a supply of said thread freely rotatable on said support in axial alignment with said mandrel, a thread guide assembly rotatably carried by said support and rotatable around the mandrel, means for driving said guide assembly to rotate around the mandrel, a first stamping tool member fixed on said assembly, a second stamping tool member carried by said assembly and movable with respect to the first tool member, said thread guide assembly providing a path for said thread to said mandrel to form a coil of said thread on the mandrel while said assembly rotates around the mandrel, means axially spaced from the mandrel for receiving said coil in axial alignment with the mandrel, said thread guide assembly providing a path from said thread from the. drum to said mandrel and between the stamping tool members, a cam carried by said support and spaced radially from said mandrel, and a cam follower assembly carried by the rotatable thread guide assembly and operatively engaged with the second stamping tool member, said cam follower assenrb-ly'being disposed to contact said cam once during each rotation of said assembly and to actuate the second sta-mping tool member toward the first stamping tool member for forming impressions at predetermined spaced intervals on the thread passing therebetween, whereby the coil has impressions formed in alignment on the several turns of the coil.

2. A coil winding and shaping device according to claim 1, wherein said support includes a cylindrical ring, said cam being adjustably mounted on said ring for circumferential displacement thereon, and means for securing said cam in any selected circumferential position on the ring.

3. A coil winding and shaping device according to claim 1, wherein said support includes a cylindrical ring and further comprising spring means normally urging the second stamping tool member away from the first stamping tool member, said cam follower assembly comprising lever means pivotally contacting said movable tool member to urge the same against the first stamping tool member and a roller carried by said lever means in rolling contact with the ring for riding over said cam to pivot said lever means and move the movable tool member against the first tool member.

4. A coil Winding and shaping device according to claim 3, wherein said cam is adjustably mounted on said ring for circumferential displacement thereon, and means for securing the cam in any selected circumferential position on the ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,467,227 Potter et al Apr. 12, 1949 2,739,367 Winberg Mar. 27, 1956 2,740,987 Moncrieff Apr. 10, 1956 2,878,514 Nichols et al Mar. 24, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 307,947 Switzerland Sept. 1, 19 5 

